It's Not Paradise Without You
by Ricepaper.Butterfly
Summary: Suite Life On Deck. London hates her father for sending her to Sea School. But the real reason is something no-one suspected. When another Tipton employee joins them on the ship, will she finally have the chance she thought she missed? Londie LondonxMaddi
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **I know, I need to update In The Dark! I'm a bad, bad person... But I have major writers block on that, and this just... came to me! :D_

_Seen the new Suite Life On Deck yet? Well, personally I don't think it's that bad. One thing is missing though, and that's Maddie. So I decided she needed to come back. I mean she just... disapeared. There wasn't a very good explanation of the end of Suite Life of Z & C and begining of suite life on deck! I hope she does a guest appearance... _

_ANYWAY, here is the story :) Hope ya like it._

Cody stood in the hall, biting his lip nervously. Should he dare to knock, or just leave it alone? He wanted to be of help, to try and cheer her up. But he didn't know what was wrong, so what was he to do? Finally he raised a fist up to the smooth wood nervously and rapped against it. Quickly withdrawing his hand, the boy stood back to wait. After a minute or two ticked by he became a little worried and reached forward to knock again when the door swung open.

The blonde was stunned by what he found. With the door open only a fraction, all he could see was London's forlorn face staring out at him, mascara streaked down her cheeks. For a moment he didn't know what to say. He knew she'd been upset of late, but he hadn't known she'd been crying. Though it did explain the tissue box's that had gone missing the past two days. God she must have been crying a lot.

"What's the matter?" he uttered, surprise and worry clear in his voice. The heiress frowned, quickly raising a hand to wipe her stained cheeks and try and destroy all evidence she'd been upset.

"Nothing!" she exclaimed "I just... chipped a diamond. One of my prettiest diamonds. And I was sad... but daddy will just by me a new one, so it's fine" she tried to convince him and went to close the door in the younger boy's face. Cody quickly reached out and placed a firm hand on the dark timber to stop her, not buying her poorly crafted lie for a minute.

"London, come on, you can tell me" the blonde spoke slowly, in a low soothing tone as though to a child. The older girl sighed, rolling her eyes at him. Was she really to admit her secret hurt to a boy two years her junior? But her and Cody had bonded a little while he was helping her out with her web show, so with a reluctant nod she opened the door wider to let the young boy in. As soon as he had entered, the heiress swung the door shut loudly and walked over to her bed to sit down. Following suit, the blonde took a seat opposite her on her room mate's bed and waited.

"What makes you think anything's wrong anyway? I just cried. Not that big of a deal. You do it when Zack threatens to destroy your blankey..." the older girl mumbled defensively, arms folded across her chest and shoulders slouched. The other boy sighed, shaking his head at her.

"London, you've hardly been out of your room in days..." he commented, about to start a long list of reasons when she interrupted him.

"I like it in here" she retorted.

"...You hardly eat anything..." he continued, leaning forward with his hands grasping his knee's as he looked her in the eye.

"I'm trying a new diet" she protested. To this he simply rolled his eyes disbelievingly. Like she needed to go on a diet.

"...I've seen you smile a whole once since we've been on the boat" he told her sternly. That wasn't like her at all, she was always smiling, showing of her pearly whites proudly.

"That's just because **I don't want to be here**!" she growled angrily. Why did her father have to put her on this stupid thing? She was fine with going on trips, just being away for a month tops, shopping round the world. But this, being trapped on this boat was torture. She missed... the Tipton. And everything about it. Finally giving up, Cody shrugged and rose to his feet, heading back towards the door before stopping with his hand grasping the knob.

"Fine. You don't want to talk, you don't have to. But London, I'm always here to listen..." and with that he left.

Finally alone, London let out a low hoarse sigh and fell back onto her bed tiredly. There was one thing in particular she missed. Or, one person actually. And at first it had completely confused her that she missed them that much. But her heart ached to see them again. Even just to hear their voice. She missed they're terrible fashion sense and they're awful hair (which deep down she really thought was gorgeous).

It had always been so much easier to insult them than compliment them and fight with them than get along with them. It had helped her deny how she really felt about them. But now the fighting and insults where gone, and all that was left where memories and a hole in her heart, the feelings that had always been there where quite clear.

Lifting up her head, the heiress reached out to grab the silver hand bag lying beside her on the bed and pull out her mobile phone. She flipped it open and ran her sparkling, hot pink nails back and forth over the buttons as she scrolled through her contacts to select one. Biting her lip in uncertainty, she began to type out a text, her nails clicking on the plastic of her phone cover as she went.

'_Hey, just thought I'd say hi and see wat ur up 2?_'. With a groan she quickly deleted it and started again.

"Like I'd ever in my right mind ask about her. She'll know something's up..."

'_Hey. Missing me already? I know you are, so don't try and deny it ;) xoxo London_'. London frowned, her thumb lingering over the delete button. Did it sound flirty? She didn't want it to sound flirty! She didn't want to give herself away. After a moment she went back and deleted the '_xoxo_', and then looked back over it. She still wasn't completely sure. Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eye's shut tightly and clicked send. After a minute of waiting she opened them again to see '_Message Sent_' flashing on her screen and letting the breath back out again shakily she flipped her phone shut again.

Slipping the mobile back into her purse, the black haired girl slowly sat back up and pulled herself off the bed to head towards the bathroom. She needed to clean herself up before Bailey got back, the last thing she needed was another person inquiring as to what was wrong with her.

It was a little small for her taste. Her bathroom back home was huge, and decorated by a star designer. She was sure this one wasn't, the tiles were tacky and the colors weren't at all harmonic.

Groaning she leaned forward on the cold, white bench surrounding the basin, the bangles round her wrists jangling as she moved. She reached a hand out to switch on the tap, and cupping the frigid water in her hands, splashed it up onto her face. It trickled over her skin, catching on her thick eye lashes and dripping off her nose and chin back into the sink. She wanted the water to clean her head of thoughts about them. To wipe clear the feelings she had for them and wash away the sadness it was causing her. But the water just chilled her face and left her skin damp and cool.

She reached out blindly to grasp the hand towel hanging on the towel rail next to her and pulled the rough cloth towards her, covering her face in it. It absorbed the water, took the streaky remnants of mascara with it as she wiped across her cheeks fiercely. Breathing in it's soft, soapy scent one last time she pulled it away and left it sitting half in the sink as she looked back up at herself in the mirror.

She looked better now. Her cheeks where a little redder than usually, as where her eyes, but a girl who hardly knew her surely wouldn't notice. The heiress was reaching up to fix her unusually messy hair when she heard the sound of the bedroom door closing loudly.

"Bailey must be back" she muttered to herself worriedly, quickly pushing a stray bit of hair behind her ear before turning back towards the bathroom door. With a deep breath she turned the knob and walked out like she was a model on a runway, hips swaying slightly, head held high and acting as snobbish as she could. She tried to pretend as if she hardly noticed or cared that the other girl was there, and she strode over her to one of her bags lying at the foot of her bed. Bending down she rummaged through it as if looking for something before rising to her feet again, and it was only then that she realized the other girl was holding her phone.

"You've got a message from... Maddie?" her room mate told her, peering at the screen as she held it out towards London. The heiress snatched the mobile from Bailey's hands the moment she heard that name, the name that had been haunting her thought's since she'd set foot on the boat. The brunette gave her an odd look, confused by her reaction, but said nothing as London read Maddie's reply with a small smile.

'_Off course Im missing u. Ive had to go almost a week with out being insulted! How's the boat? A floating paradise? Wish I could b there. xoxo Maddie_'. The young Tipton's smile grew to a giddy grin as she finished reading and quickly began writing her reply. Bailey waited a moment before speaking, but after it seemed that London wasn't going to start a conversation she decided she would have to.

"So who's Maddie? A friend from back home?" she asked innocently, sitting down on her bed and pushing of her shoes so they fell to the floor, freeing her feet. The other girl looked up distractedly, as if surprised to see the brunette was still there and talking to her.

"Umm... yea. My best friend actually" she muttered before hitting the send button and slipping the phone back in her purse. Bailey nodded, smiling politely. She'd found it hard to find out much about the other girl at all apart from that she was a rich heiress and her farther was the Mr. Tipton.

"I didn't really have many friends back home, I mean, apart from my chickens" she confided in her room mate, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands on the cool, blue sheets. London gave her a look, not really being at all interested in the other girls life. What did she care about the strange Kansas girl who'd forced her to have to share her room? But the text message from Maddie had put her in a good mood so she smiled politely and put on that fake interested voice she used to do for the candy counter girl, all the while thinking of the blond back home.

"Oh really? That is very interesting. Please tell me more". Bailey gave her another odd look and laughed lightly before continuing to tell her about her chickens back on the farm. London nodded and smiled and looked at the brunette as if she was taking it in, but her brain was running a million miles an hour. A million times faster than it usually ran.

She couldn't help but think of Maddie. What was she doing right then? Probably working... Probably wearing that tacky uniform that really looked quite stunning on the blond. Was she smiling like London was now just to hear from her friend? Or had she forgotten the heiress already and been surprised by the sudden text message? And most of all, did the other girl really miss her? God, she sorely hoped so!

xxxx

_So, want more? God, I hope so... I'm kind of excited about this actually. It is a little more serious than the show. Sorry. I'm not very funny, you wouldn't laugh at my jokes anyway. And I like some good soppy, depressing romance! It'll get happier though. Cross My Heart! xxx_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** I hope people actually like this, I haven't gotten much feed back so I'm not sure. But thank you for the reviews I have gotten! It'll get better. Next chapter it really starts moving. Also i was wondering if anyone knew the name of that girl from the episode 'Broke N' Yo-Yo' played by Kara Crane (from minutemen). Well, thank's if you do, and if not, no worries. Anyway, hope your enjoying it. Londie Rocks!! :D_

**Chapter Two**

A long, loud yawn escaped Zack's mouth as he stretched his arms up to the sky and brought them back down to rub his hardly open eyes. The sun was blaring on the top deck as the twins finished off their breakfast. Cody looked up at his brother, letting out a tired yawn himself as he turned his attention to the calm blue sea. With a broad smile he wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin politely and rose to his feet.

"Come on Zack, time for school" he nudged his tired brother as he pushed his chair back in. He could get used to this, lazy breakfast's looking out over the ocean with the sun shining down on them and exciting lessons in biology in the ships wonderful lab. His brother looked up at him grumpily, not moving.

"Sure, you go ahead, I'll catch up with you in a bit!" Zack mumbled before closing his eyes and slipping down into his chair sleepily, arms folded across his chest. Cody shrugged, not bothering to try and persuade his brother, and wandered off to go to class. As he took the first steps up the stairs he looked back at the ocean one last time, admiring it's shimmering beauty, and with his head turned away ran into a passenger coming down the stairs.

As he hit the body blocking his way, the young blonde stumbled back, waving his arms in the air precariously as he lost his balance before hitting the polished wooden deck on his ass. Cody groaned, looking up to apologize when he saw whom it was he'd run into. The heiress took the last two steps down, seeming oblivious still to her run in with the twin until she looked down at him curiously.

"Cody what are you doing on the floor?" she asked before looking back to the mobile clutched firmly in her hands. The younger boy sighed heavily and rolled his eyes as he helped himself to his feet.

"Just a distracted passenger not looking where they where going" he muttered though he knew she wasn't really listening, brushing himself off hurriedly "Hey London, your going the wrong way. Class is this way!" he told her, pointing up the stairs in the direction he'd been heading. Finally she looked up again, with a look that said she hadn't actually heard what he'd said at all.

"Class is this way" he told her again slowly, taking the older girl by the arm and leading her up the stairs. The heiress shrugged and let him lead her as she concentrated instead on the communication devise clasped firmly in her delicate fingers. Cody sighed, he was worried about London. First of all she was almost shutting down, and now she was permanently attached to her mobile phone, much more than usual.

'Me, myself and I agree, you'll never catch up with me. Cos I'm too cool, too cool, I'm too cool to know you. Don't take it personal, don't get emotional, you know it's the truth. I'm too cool for you'

The young twin couldn't help but grin as he heard London's ring tone go off. That'd be right, the song was so London. As soon as it began to ring the older girl was scrambling to flip open her phone and press the receive call button. As soon as she saw the caller ID her face lit up and she put the phone against her ear hurriedly, her hands getting clumsy in her rush.

"Hello?" she answered, trying to sound cool and nonchalant before she realized she had the mobile the wrong way round and quickly reversed it "H..hello?!". Cody watched her calmly, observing her actions in a scientific matter before concluding: London had a major crush. He'd hardly ever seen the heiress nervous like that, or so lacking in confidence. With a small smile the blond leaned slightly closer, trying to listen in on the conversation. Maybe it was that St. Mark boy, Todd, the one who wanted to be a dentist?

"Hey…I'm good, you know, fabulous as usual…It's gorgeous…Oh, new boss huh? Well I guess since Mosby left…" at this the young twin frowned, their boss used to be Mr. Mosby? Could it be Lance? "…Really?...Ha! In his dreams…I bet he just needs a new outfit, you'd be amazed what new clothes can do for you…when was the last time you bought new clothes? 1985?...Okay well, I'll talk to you later then…yea…bye Maddie". Cody's eyes widened at the last word. London sighed and flipped her phone shut again, slipping in back into the pockets of her jeans.

"Cody? I think we're late for class… Which is totally a good thing. The teacher was like, boring me to death yesterday!" she rolled her eyes and began walking towards their class room, not noticing that the blond was still standing in the same place, slightly shocked. London couldn't really… not Maddie? He shook his head and turned to follow her in to class. He was probably just wrong. Just completely and utterly wrong.

London took a seat up the back, sitting her purse on the desk in front of her and taking out her nail polish. She couldn't concentrate on school at the moment, all her thoughts where filled with Maddie. So she did what always calmed her down, she painted her nails. Smiling she selected a glittering gold and gripping the small brush delicately, began to paint her fingers nails one by one.

She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with these feelings. While the one they where for was a million miles away, all they did was bottle up inside her. And they grew and grew until she swore one day she'd explode. Rubbing her forehead angrily the heiress looked out the window at he ocean. She had a new loathing for the sea at the moment. Because that's what separated her from her candy counter girl. Miles and miles of rough, deep blue.

"Uhh.. London?" came a low worried voice from beside her. The heiress turned to the girl beside her, giving Bailey a tired look. The brunette bit her lip, playing with the corner of her page nervously. The older girl scared her a little.

"There's umm… a streak of gold nail polish across your forehead" the Kansas girl mumbled, looking back down at her work. As her eyes scanned over her page she heard the black haired girl beside her groan, quickly pulling the compact mirror from her bag to inspect the damage. Yep, there it was, clear as day. A bright, sparkly gold line running across her forehead into her hair. As if things couldn't get worse.

"London! Are you even paying attention?" the teacher barked at her, looking down her nose at the heiress. London rolled her eyes, carefully blowing on her still drying finger nails before bothering to answer her.

"Nope! Can I go now?".

xxxxx

The top deck was filled with the buzz of chattering voices as the twins pulled up a stool each at the bar and ordered. As the two blonds sat twiddling their thumbs and tapping their fingers as they waited for their orders. While Zack sat transfixed by Bailey as the brunette sat with London, laughing at something the older girl had said, his brother's mind was ticking over.

"Zack, do you still have Maddie's phone number?" Cody asked, snapping his fingers in front of the other boy's face to bring him back to reality. Zack frowned and nodded, pulling out his mobile and flicking through his contacts quickly before shoving the phone in his twin's hands and turning his attention back to the gorgeous brunette. Cody stared at the phone in his hand nervously. What was he going to say? He had no idea. But before he knew it the phone was dialing, ringing… ringing…

"Hello? This is Maddie Fitzpatrick's phone… Hello? … London?" the older girls voice rung out from the speaker and Cody quickly raised the phone to his ear to answer her.

"Maddie, hey. It's Cody!" he replied, grinning broadly. God, it had been so long since he'd heard that perky, often quite sarcastic voice addressing him. He vaguely remembered the last time he'd seen the kind face that went with it. After a warm hug good bye for both him and his brother they'd left and he could just tell Zack was upset on the way to the boat. His twin was over the blond, kind of, but she'd always be one of the most major crushes he'd had. And more importantly, she'd always been such a close friend to the both of them.

"Cody, hey. Wow, I didn't really expect to hear from you.. so soon. How are things going? Enjoying your stay in paradise?" she asked excitedly, though she couldn't hide her surprise at who it was calling her. Cody smiled, she'd thought it was London. How did that add into his London crush theory? He wasn't quite sure, but he thought it probably went into the 'for' column.

"It's good. Awesome in fact. It is just so gorgeous out here. You'd love it. How about you? I might have over heard a bit of your conversation with London this morning. It's good to see your staying in touch" he rambled a little, feeling nosy at his inquiring. He heard a small laugh from the other end of the phone though and relaxed a little.

"I'm glad you're having a good time. Yea, London… I didn't hear from her for ages and then yesterday she texted me and we've been texting and calling each other all night and most of this morning. It's good to hear from her, you know? I've been missing you guys. It's so quite here without you all" she told him happily, and he could hear how ecstatic she was just by her tone of voice.

"Well, we've been missing you too! Umm… when I accidentally overheard our conversation this morning… Where you saying something about a new boss? How's work and all that going?" he finally began to get down to what he really wanted to know. Soon, he'd start to enquire more about London and suss out that situation.

"Oh yea, this new boss is a total dick. I'm actually missing Mr. Mosby! but umm… I've got some really good news. You just have to promise you wont tell London, cos I was going to surprise her…".


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:** So, I realize that I haven't updated this in... well two years. But i have recieved the ocassional review since then, and some people seem to want me to continue. And as I'm on holidays at the moment and ill, I decided to try and finish this. So here's the next chapter. Short, but I'll try and update soon. Also, in the last chapter I posted their seemed to be some sort of Zack/Bailey thing going on. I don't know what that was, but I very much ship Cody/Bailey now, so there'll be some of that in here too. Mainly Londie though :) _

Cody was grinning like an idiot for the next two days. His mouth was plastered in a permanent smile. It made London feel a little uneasy, they way he would grin at her like he knew some brilliant secret and she didn't. But him being the only one who knew didn't last long…

He tried to restrain telling Zack for as long as possible. His twin had a big mouth, and he knew once he told him that it wouldn't be a secret for much longer. The need to tell someone however was driving him crazy. On the third day of knowing he decided to have a chat with Bailey, try and suss out if she- as London's room mate- could shed any more light on the situation.

Cody found his palms began to sweat as he approached her, and he wiped them on his jeans as he reached where she was standing leaning on the railing and looking out into the sea. He stood beside her for a moment, quietly, watching her eyes as they stared out blankly not really seeing what was before her.

"You okay Bailey?" he asked timidly. Her gentle brown eyes slid across to meet his, and the edges of her mouth pulled up into a smile – though a weak one.

"Yea, fine, just… feelin' a little homesick. You know?". He nodded slowly, trying not to think of his mother back in Boston and his father on the road and all the friends he'd left when he'd come to stay on the ship. He'd certainly had his fair share of homesickness these past few days, but mostly it was out weighed by all the good things about being on the ship. With great uncertainty he reached out a hand, shaking slightly, and placed it on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Bailey smiled in amusement.

"Thanks Cody" she said, pushing away from the railing and taking a deep breath as though to try and push the sadness away, "Did you want to talk to me about something?". For a moment Cody froze, having forgotten completely why it was he'd come over to her in the first place. It wasn't until he caught sight of London, sitting over at the bar with her eyes glued to the screen of her mobile, that he remembered.

"London!" he exclaimed, turning his attention back to Bailey, "Have you noticed… anything odd about her lately? She just… she's been a little down lately, and I thought you might've noticed something.". The brunette looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I don't really know her well enough to say she's been acting odd. I mean, she seemed kind of down the first few days, I figured that was just cos she got stuck sharing a room with me. But umm.. then she really picked up. Although she's been keeping me up with her texting at all hours. It's starting to drive me insane." When she finished speaking Bailey let out a low yawn as if to exercise her point. Cody noticed the faint signs of bags beneath her eyes and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think that will end soon." He told her with a grin that he could barely contain. He was bursting to tell someone the secret that he'd been sworn to keep. Bailey looked intrigued, if not a little confused.

"What do you mean?". Cody looked around, making sure that nobody was nearby. When he was sure that London was far enough away that she couldn't possibly hear he turned back to Bailey and leaned in slightly. She leant in too, as though he were about to impart on her something top secret.

"Well, she has this friend from back home, Maddie-" he'd hardly begun when the brunette interrupted him.

"Oh yea, her best friend from back home. She mentioned her." Bailey smiled, remembering that night and how the heiress had seemed so upbeat after that, letting her go on for twenty minutes about her chickens back home till London was so bored she was almost falling asleep.

"She mentioned Maddie to you? What'd she say?" Bailey noted his sudden pike in interest with curiosity and confusion.

"She said.. that she was her best friend back home."

"That's all.". Bailey thought over it for a moment before nodding slowly.

"That's all.". Cody seemed a little disheartened by this. His head dropped and he quickly went back to explaining this all important thing he'd been trying to say before.

"Well anyway, Maddie decided to surprise London by visiting the boat for a while. She's going to get on when we pull up to harbor in a few days. But you can't tell London, because it's a surprise!" he was sure he could trust Bailey, she seemed like a trustworthy sort of person. The brunette gave him a winning smile, and made the motion of zipping her lips closed.

"I wont say a word."

When Bailey strolled into her cabin the next afternoon she found London already inside, lying on her bed with her phone to her ear. Not a remotely unusual sight in the last few days. With a heavy sigh the brunette crept in, shutting the door as quietly as possible behind her and making her way to the small desk on her own side of the room.

"Tell me you are not dating him. You must have some standards Maddie." The heiress was saying, a hint of jealousy in her voice that Bailey couldn't help but pick up. Her forehead creased as she thought about it. Maybe it was a boy that London secretly liked.

Bailey pulled her homework from that day out of her bag, setting it down on her desk and searching through her pencil case for something to write with. She planned to try and get the essay they'd been assigned that day done as soon as possible, and had already written up a schedule for herself where she had designated that that very afternoon she would at least finish brainstorming and have her points all worked out. However, as soon as she started trying to think she realized that this task would be near impossible to do with London there

"I finished buffing my favorite diamond, and I got this cute new- … homework? That's not what I was going to- .. well off curse I have homework. But I'm not going to do it." London laughed, wondering if Maddie had forgotten what she was like already.

Groaning, Bailey picked up her planning paper and the assignment sheet and her pen and stormed back out of the Cabin as quickly as she had entered, muttering to herself as she closed the door "I can't wait till we get to the harbor.". London showed little concern for her angry bunk mate or the slamming of the door. She only showed she'd even noticed it when Maddie asked her about the loud noise which had reverberated down the connection

"Oh it was just my room mate. She was sitting their doing her homework and then suddenly she stormed out…" London replied nonchalantly, staring up at the ceiling above her. When she heard Maddie's voice again, slightly crackly as it traveled across sea to reach her, she felt her stomach flip at the familiar tone.

"So… what's your room mate like?" the blonde sounded cautious, but overly curious. Like she was trying to restrain herself from giving too much away in her voice, trying not to sound as if she cared too much. London recognized it instantly, a skill she'd mastered years ago, what to think of it however she wasn't sure.

"Bailey? Kind of like you actually. Really smart. Not remotely cool. Has one of the twins hanging off her every word. Ugh, her clothes, you should see them. Even you would be appalled." On the other end she heard Maddie giggle and then let out a long, heavy sigh that made London feel a little uneasy.

"She's not quite as awesome as you though." She added hastily. There was a moment's silence, a moment of thoughts rushing through both of their heads, before Maddie finally spoke.

"Why London, was that a compliment?". London felt red rise in her cheeks and was thankful for once that the other girl was an ocean away, unable to see.

"A compliment?" she feigned dumb, "isn't that something to do with colors?". They both knew that London knew what a compliment was. She received them constantly and gave them little. She adored compliments. Especially ones from Maddie. But both remained silent on the subject and let it slide.

"I'm actually kind of liking art." London said in all seriousness, "It's much easier than that once with all the numbers, and yesterday I drew this gorgeous picture of this shoe I've been dying to buy." Maddie just laughed, and looked at the calendar she had up on her wall. One more day till she got to see London again face to face.


	4. Chapter 4

**It's Not Paradise ****Without You**

Chapter 4

As London lay on her deck chair, hot midday sun soaking into her skin, she let her mind wander. Not to thoughts of shoes or shopping trips or malls far away in busy cities, as most often she did, but to Maddie. As a rule, she usually tried not to do this. Once she'd realized her feelings for her best friend she'd thought that maybe if she didn't let the blonde into her mind that the feelings would go away. The last thing she wanted was to slip up and ruin the one sincere friendship that she had. Now she figured there was no chance of that anyway. The girl who owned her heart was miles away, a distance that stretched further each day till she'd stopped counting.

So with a heavy sigh she let thoughts of Maddie intoxicate her, fill her head, and drown out everything else. She allowed herself to fall headfirst into fantasies she's tried not to imagine, about the way the candy counter girl's lips might feel against her own. It could have been the coldest winter day, and still with such thoughts coursing through her mind her cheeks would have flushed the brightest red like a midsummer sun burn.

Across the deck, Cody could hardly contain his excitement. Zack was starting to feel unnerved by how much his brother was grinning, hardly able to sit still, and the knowing glances he was sharing with Bailey who sat beside him, giggling as she sipped on her mango smoothie. It was barely past midday, three hours till they docked, and the air was filled with laughter and children's voices and heat. As Zack finished serving a cute girl at the other end of the bar he made his way over to his brother and Bailey, sweeping a damp cloth lazily over the bench as he went.

"Ok, spill! What is up with you two today?" he asked as he reached them, tossing his fringe back out of his eyes with a shake of his head. Cody glanced across at the brunette sitting beside him, and then back at Zack with a cheerful smile.

"Why, brother, what ever do you mean?". A long slurping sound filled the silence, Bailey taking a long sip of the thick yellow liquid in her cup as Zack glared his brother down. Cody would have cracked if the girl beside him hadn't stood up abruptly, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him off his own stool as well.

"Come on, let's go work on our essays so we're done by the time we dock." She instructed him, and the weaker twin nodded obediently, hardly taking in her words as his mind focused on the feel of her hand against his bare arm.

Two hours and 59 minutes later London was holed up in her room when a sharp knock came at her door. She tried to ignore it, reaching over to the stereo beside her bed and turning up the music. For a moment all she heard was the thudding beat and the sweet melody of the guitar filling her ears, and so let herself sink back into her fantasy. Hardly a minute later however the knocking came again, louder this time, someone's knuckles wrapping firmly against the hard wood of the door. Frustrated she pushed her eyes open and sat up, fingers trailing back through her neat locks of ebony hair – just as she'd imagined Maddie doing in her mind.

"What is it?" she called out, hitting pause on her stereo harder than was necessary and causing the small bedside table to wobble in the aftermath. After a moment a voice called back uncertainly from the other side.

"London? … It's Cody … We're docking, aren't you going to come out?". On the other side of the door Bailey tried to suppress a giggle at his choice of words. London sighed and let her head fall back down onto the pillow, pushing a dent into its gentle silk surface.

"I'm good," she replied, tracing patterns across her doona cover with her index finger and she tried to delve back into her mind, into a world of make believe where she had the nerve to take Maddie in her arms and kiss her just like she deserved to be kissed, and where the blonde would kiss her right back. There was a pause of silence that stretched out and filled her cabin in the wake of her music and the knocking outside. In the emptiness she squeezed her eyes closed and wished with all her might that Maddie was there.

That's all she wanted. It didn't matter whether or not she felt the same way; London just needed her best friend back. Bailey was nice and Cody kept an eye on her and Woody was dorky and Zack made her laugh, but even all together they didn't equal Maddie. She wanted her Candy Counter Girl.

It was at that moment, as London lay staring at the ceiling and wishing on everything she could thing to wish on, that the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. Her ears pricked at the noise. She was an expert on shoes, and she recognized the sound of those worn out sneaker soles padding down the carpeted hall. At first she couldn't believe it true, but then that sweet voice called out to her from the other side of the door.

"London? … Its Maddie! … Surprise!".

London was up in a moment, at the door in another, and then pulling open the it open with such force it flung back and hit the wall behind it. A bemused looking Maddie was standing on the other side, hair messy from a nap on the plane, baggage sitting at her feet. A smile sprung quickly to the heiress' lips before she leapt forward, smothering the other girl in a tight hug.

"Why London, did you miss me?" the blonde giggled as she wrapped her arms around her old friend's waist. The feel of London's body pressed flush against her made Maddie's heart thud. She hoped her friend couldn't feel it. When the other girl finally pulled away she found herself suddenly feeling awkward, smiling shyly at the girl she'd known so long.

"But seriously… did you miss me?". London laughed nervously at the question, stepping back and motioning for Maddie to follow her into the room. She waited till she had her back to the other girl before answering, so the blonde couldn't read her expression.

"Of course I missed you! Bailey refuses to help me with my homework!" she said. Her expression, if Maddie had been able to read it, would have read _I missed you more than you could even imagine_. Behind her Maddie let out a loud laugh to cover up the smidge of hurt at the only reason why.

"You mean do your homework for you." She replied, heaving her suitcase into the room. London turned around, her eyes sparkly mischievously, dark hair whipping around her cheeks in the movement. Maddie had to bite down on her bottom lip so as to stop words spilling out of her mouth. Words like _gorgeous _and _stunning _and _why are you so out of my league?_

"So Maddie, how much do you know about that Lincoln guy? Apart from that he had no taste what so ever."


End file.
